Cast-steel car wheel



June 2 9 1926.

M. shvlNcENT CAST swam, cm WHEEL Filed u1 27, 192s 12222121 0) I 4%ezfizz df-fid zcezzl 495M VW/amgv 'l aten ted Julie 29, 1926 l we st ch n-wa er With thesei'antl' "other 'o'bjeetsin- View, invention: COhSIStS 111', the COIlStI'llilblOIl; ,ar-

, ra'n'gement' Enid fcoinhina-tion of the Various parts of my car wheel, whereby the objects f coiit eihpltted are: attained,- as hereinafter moie ftillj'set forth} poirited out in my I el'ztifiis; and: i llu stPatt ecl the accompanyingdrewings, 1n WlllGllZ i Figure .1 is e @"cle elevation: of arc'ast steel car Wheel'embotlyihgmyfinvehtion; -V 7 Figure 2 is. art elevation of the? opposite side of the Wheel. i I Fl gilf6 3 is aidetai'l,\sectiouwl'view' takeh Ofi-fill 1-ii1e' 3f'"-3 of Figure 1 o Pigment-e detail, seotiona'llvi'ext take 'ontlre'l-i *of Figurezfigenl J r I (Figure 5 1s etailgfseetiorial View taken" oii 'the lifre5 5-f16ffl3igure 3:{v Q- Considerable clifiic-ulty has been" experi-i' enoecl ill" the?-me1iu'faeture* of riieta'l wheels 0% a; medium" size for mine ca rs' oramot'o'r' he rs of the type'i used 01 1" ruilroadsi and the I like-* V The \irheels "for cars :of this type have been' mede" of pressed r steelil "The'pr'essel steel W'h'eelv he s-certain Clisa'dventeges. 111 the;

first plaeegii-tcloes not-have the strength am wearing-i qualities T0 1? cast: steel,

, Another disttdv'antage -arisesfrom the that inthe praetioztl structures so: terhiede,

1 th hubhas been: separate" piece ri'vetel in? Various Ways to the spokes, 1 andi thetriveteq hub Wheels tend to'break down at thepbiht of oohn'eotiol'if between the? hub alrid othe spq s'g r I is advantageous-1:50 use" cest'iste'elyes' a= experienced with materiel-for such Wheels; lo e'oetuse steel Wheels are stronger and consider'ab,1y more; durable with th'eseme Weightoi-mafale :It ifs -a-lso desirttble; if possiblefgto rr ake'such awheelin a sir gle unit? o t Heret'ofore; however, in the making of'east steel Wheels, certain serious difficulties have f beehexperieneed s t v i VVh'en-the WheelsWer-e-castjiujsuoh a Way 'as to be strong enough arouri'clthe hub and at the points of eounectioris betweeu the i spokes and the tread, it; was found that there Were certain places near theflhub and nea lf the tread,- Where there Wassuo h a l'oul-lr of metal, that when'the wheels. were cooled, 1 shrink holes Were left ofrthe interior of the meta-l3 o' -he r shrink-holes oc ur Because as the '70] m o "i er lw e ine PTOQQ I a 0 face and later, on the interior.

'- Such shrink holes or shrinks, are met- Y coolsgit-shrinks. The fiiial shrink'oceurson the iriterior of the secti011 Where there is a consiclerablebulkoii metal; leaving'e hollow placehich i-sg n'ot Visible in-or fromthe outer surface jofitl ie product.

sir gthle englideirgerous for; several reasons.

It is 'cli flicult to ascertain just Where "they exist- NVheni they do %exist,; then it frlquentl-y ohcurs in the use of the Wheel, for

" instance in service,-the vibretioucauses erys ta'llization to set upend-a .breeka-gelor oracki ngfoecurs f commeneing at thefshriuk V I anfd Working toward the outer surface of the Wheel. VVVherever-(this;o oours, ,the Wheel is -.1i a;b1e to ultimetelybreak. o r h It is obvious therefore that it is highly H desireble t-o avoid these' shrinks i t I Ithas heretofore been found in practice,

however-,that Whenfthe' castingwas made thin enough ground fitheyhub-"where the, spokes connect" With: the hub, or; Where the spokes conneet with "the tread; that is to say ,when the bulk pfrmetel is reduced enough to: zivoid the shrink holes;- th efn-the wheel does not have sufiioie tstrength tostancl up;

ui'ider' service;

of metal at point of ooimeotio'n bei tween the spokes and tread is reduced enough to avoid the danger of the shrink holes, there is not suflicient reinforcement for the tread, and when the wheel shrinks after casting it tends to flatten between the successive spokes.

' It is therefore'obvious that itis a de- V sirable thing toimake the wheel of such 7 design that it may be of uniform section as nearly as possible throughout, and this is a problem, difiicult of solution, which I believe I have workedout'in the present 2 wheel. 1

' j 'The two webs di ward the'opposite ends of the hub 10, as

I have shown in the accompanying drawlngs a wheel, which accomplishes this pur pose, and has been successfully tried out,

and which will in actual experience far outlast a pressed wheel of like weight and outlast alsocast steel wheels heretofore made, i in which the idea of sections of uniform thickness was not carried out. i I

' My wheel is a complete wheel made in a single steel castlng.

I It has the hollow hub or. journal indicated in the accompanying drawings'by the reference numeral 10. r f

Extending radially from the hubare the spokes 11L. I the design'of the connection". between the Spokes and the hub and the spokes and tie tread are of greatimpo'rtance:

The inner ends of Each web. 12 and 18 is substantially continuous l around the hub and is connected with each spoke; r V erge from the spokes toshown in Figure 3'. j V v I It will thus beseen that I secure by this arrangement'the great strength of a truss structur'e,by which the hub is properly supportedby and connected with the spokes, "while at the same time the hub itself, the fWBbS 12 and 13 and bodies of the'spokes 11 e all made of sections ofsubstantiallyr uniform thickness. j I r I Inorder to permit proper casting process, each web 12 or 13 as the case may be is provided-with a hole 14 in raidal line with the successive alternating spokes.

' sion. of'these holes 14 do not unduly weaken the wheel structure around the hub.

" It'will; be seen from the forgoing that I have provided a unitary trussed hub and spoke structure of proper strength and The shape of the spokes and i the spokes are con! nected with the hub by webs 12 and 13.

rail just. aishort distance approximately at the point indicated at'A thickness of metal without any accumulation of bulk of metal in one place likely to 7 result in shrink holes.

At the outer ends of the spokes is the tread 15 having the wall flange 16. V The spokes 11 are slightly conoayo-convex from the hub to the treadfor-the following e making a steel casting, the treadco'ols and shrinks. The shrinking. of the tread" tendsto'put a strain on the spokes. It is found in practice that'f tween the treadand hub,'the shrinkingof the tread can be completed with a minimumof internal strain on-thespokes and a-minithe spokes e V are slightly concavo-convex, as showm'be-j mum likelihood of breaking orcracking of a the casting.

It may be mentioned also that the spokes 11 are slightly concavo-convex from edge toedge as illustrated particularly in Figure 5.

This is inorder to further strengthen the spokes.

The connecting of the spokes with the] tread, I'hav-e found a matter of extreme difficulty and have solved this difficulty in the following-manner: v

'Thespokes are so arrangedthat at their outer ends, each spoke is spread anddivided so asto form portions 11 and 11!, which. i are curvedTdivergingly toward the inner part of the tread,-as indicated at 11* and 11*" I in Figure 2.

The portions 1 1 and ll ofieach spoke form a truss and it will be notedthat the On the convex side of each spoke, there is provided a rib or flange 17 commencing at the web 12 andincreaslng in width toward the tread. 1

Commencin g approximately at the," point where the portions 11 and 11 diverge'from.

i070 portions 11 and 11 of thesuccessivespoke also form a truss.

the main body of the spokell, the width'of therib 17 increases in both directions, as 111- dicated at 17 fin- Figure 3, thus-furnishing a support cross-wise of the inside of the tread.

The ribs .also'strengthen the spokes.

'The construction of the portions 11 and 11 and the rib 17, it will be seen, affords a maximum supporting connection between the spokes and the tread on the underside: of the tread, both circum ferentially of the" f tread and cross-wise of the tread; while maintaining in all parts oi the spokes con-f 7 nection, the uniform section thickness to which attention has been called. 5 g V A finished wheel, ofthistype'bears on the in Figure 3. V i 7 f It will be notedthat in order to secure maximum strength, the portions 11 and 11 j v connect with the tread in laoline opposite the from the flange 16'- I portion A, where the wheel bearsion the rail, and where theload is imposed, 1 7 It may be mentioned incidentally thatthe tread itself is built to comply with the Mas-' ter Car Builders standard, and the hub and spoke structure is peculiarly adapted for use withtreads ofthat standard. 7

Itwill be obvious that by, slightly changing the patterns,the hub may be variedas mounted upon axles of slightly difl'erent lengths or different points in the lengths of of the axles, and still be adapted foruse on tracks of the desired gauge.

ness of metal at the throat B, which maybe desired. Thinness of the metal'here" is not,

of such vital importance in casting,because this part of the casting is near the, top of the mold, wherethe danger of shrinking is not so great. i

, It will thus be seen'that I have provided a steel Wheel in a single casting affording ample strength at the hub and ample strength at the tread, where the tread con- .nects" with the spokes, Without the evils which occur when there is an accumulation of metal atone point in a steelcasting.

Changes may be made in the detailsof the shape andstructure of my wheel withspokes. being: connected with the hub b out departing from the essential spirit of 1*my inventionyand'it is my intention to cover by my claims,- any modified forms ofstrucreasonably included 7 ture, whichmay be within theirscope; I a v I claim as my invention: 7 Y 1.111 a cast steel wheel, a tread, a hub and curved' radial connectingspokes, said 1.- verging webs of substantially the same t ickness as the spokes, said spokes beingdivided at their outer ends into converging curved parts for forminga truss connection with the tread for each spoke and for forming a truss by means oft-he adjacent portions of adjacent spokes, and a longitudinallrib on I l the convex side ofeach spoke widened cen- The tread 15 may be made with any thicktrally between the; outward converginglportions of the spokes toextendacross the inner side of thetread, substantially 'as shown.

' 2..In' a cast ,steelwhee'1,"a' tread, a hub 5 J and curved radial-connectingspokes, said spokes being divided at their outerends" into converging curved parts for 'formin' a truss connectlonpwi'th the tread for eac adjacent portions of adjacent spokes,and a longitudinal rib on'the convex side of each spoke widened centrally, between the outward converging'portions of the spokes to" extend acrossthe inner side of the tread, substantiallyas shown.

MERLIN s; VINCENT.

spo and for formlng atruss by means of the 

